Trump signs funding package, ending brief partial gov't shutdown

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a massive funding package, ending a partial government shutdown that began Saturday.

The bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives earlier Tuesday, after gaining Senate approval on Friday. The latest package will fund multiple U.S. federal agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The agencies are the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), originally included in the omnibus funding package, has been removed. The department will instead receive a two-week continuing resolution at current funding levels, allowing both parties and the White House to continue negotiations on immigration enforcement.

The recent two fatal shootings by federal enforcement personnel in Minneapolis have prompted Democrats to seek changes to how immigration agencies operate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that until Immigration and Customs Enforcement is properly reined in and overhauled legislatively, the DHS funding bill does not have the votes to pass the Senate.

In recent years, as political polarization between the Republican and Democratic parties has intensified, the U.S. federal government has repeatedly fallen into crises of shutdown or been on the brink of shutdown.

On Oct. 1, 2025, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a new short-term funding bill before government funds ran out, forcing the closure of federal agencies. The shutdown continued until Nov. 12, 2025, when the House of Representatives passed a Senate-approved spending package, finally bringing the impasse to an end.

During the 43-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, due to the government's failure to provide financial support to airport staff, including air traffic controllers, approximately 5.2 million passengers were affected by flight delays or cancellations, according to Airlines for America, an industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines.

Moreover, at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while roughly 730,000 continued to work without pay, according to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

The shutdown took place amid bitter partisan rivalry that had defined Washington for nearly two decades. Experts warn that it is reasonable to expect another shutdown when a new budget needs to be passed next year.

"Polarization is likely to continue because the very divisions which propelled the shutdown are still in place," said Darrell West, senior fellow at Brookings Institution. "People don't trust their opponents or have much confidence in government."

Government shutdowns have repeatedly occurred in U.S. history. The first partial shutdown took place in 1976 under President Gerald Ford amid a budget dispute. As many as 15 federal government shutdowns have been recorded since 1980, when it was clarified that federal agencies could not spend funds without appropriations, according to Congressional data.